Chinese students' English name practices and their identities

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the relationship between Chinese students' practice of adopting and/or using an English name and their identities. I am concerned with why Chinese students agreed or refused to adopt an English name at the inception, how their attitudes towards their English name(s) have changed over time, what criteria they used when choosing their English names, and what the relationship is between their English name(s) and their identities. I understand participants' practice of adopting an English name as the result of the habits of adopting ming and zi in the Chinese naming culture. Participants' English name practice is also in accordance with the collectivist culture that is dominant in China. Participants use an English name in the effort to avoid being a problem for the group in which they are involved because they view the content of self as social categories. Examining the social and political contexts, the social influence from Hong Kong and Taiwan and the carrying out the Reform-and-Open-up policy in mainland China are also important factors that have contributed to the popularity of adopting and/or using English names among Chinese people. From the second language learning perspective, participants' English name(s) sometimes may be their investment in imagined communities. Participants' criteria for choosing an English name are similar to some common criteria for choosing a Chinese name. Participants' narratives reveal that there is a direct and close relationship between participants' English names and their identities. They associated their English name with their actualities and realities, such as their life goals and their ideal personality qualities.

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